Maria Jicheva is an intercultural communication and management specialist with a background in business, languages and learning.

Maria has lived and worked in various cultures through diplomatic postings and business assignments. She has conducted in-depth research of the cultures in Central and Western Europe and has extensive experience in coaching individuals and teams with cross-cultural communication, motivation and conflict resolution issues. Motorola, KPMG, PWC, Rieter Automotive Management AG, Russian Nuclear Research Institute, GlaxoSmithKline, Powergen, Unilever, Lovells, LG&E, McKinsey, WPP , Ingersoll Rand and Tesco  are among her clients. She continues teaching university courses in intercultural management for IES, a consortium of American Universities in London.

Maria was born in Bulgaria and received her MA and BA degrees from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and her MBA from The American International University in London. She earned her Diploma in Inter-Cultural Management at the University of Cambridge. published articles on intercultural communication and cross-cultural adaptation. She is one of the creators of Argonaut Online, an intercultural online learning system.

Maria was president of SIETAR Europa (Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research in Europe) from 2004 till July 2007. She has presented at various intercultural and HR conferences in  the USA, Norway, Germany, China, Bulgaria, France, UK and Spain. Additionally she has published several articles on intercultural communication and cross-cultural adaptation.
In addition to English, she is also fluent in Finnish and Russian and is conversant in French.

Core Capabilities

• Global leadership development,
• Cultural integration management,
• Executive coaching
• Central and Eastern Europe specialist